Harry Potter and the Ethereal Time
by antares520
Summary: In the summer after Harry's fifth year he is not ready to accept his grief and move on and so runs to where he last saw Sirius. Why? To go after him, of course. ON HOLD
1. A Decision Reached

**Harry Potter and the Ethereal Time**

_A Decision Reached_

Harry pushed aside the veil, a chill spreading through his hand were it made contact with the tatters. He had expected to see Sirius standing there, smiling and laughing at the clever trick he had played on his godson and everyone else, and asking why it took so long to come back for him. But there was nothing. No lop-sided grin that had become so familiar to Harry, no barking laugh, no laughing eyes already planning the next trick. There was nothing there besides a black void, chilling in its emptiness.

_He might still be there,_ the sixteen-year-old thought, clinging to a vague hope, _I just need to follow him through there, then I'll find him._ Steeling his courage, and blinded to logic by his grief, Harry stepped one foot through, giving a gasp as he felt cold begin to spread up his leg, slowly claiming more and more of his body.

Out of shock, he pulled his leg back out, hurriedly stumbling backwards towards the edge of the dais – away from the veil and the calling voices. Looking at his now near-frozen leg, Harry saw it turning pale, almost transparent. Confusion and fear spread through him, and he once again realised that his rash decisions had gotten him into more trouble than he could manage. But this time no one could save him because no one knew he was here. In desperation, Harry searched the room; there was nothing there to save him and he would never make it out to the front desk in time to get the night guard's help.

_There's only one thing for it._ He told himself, bracing himself to do the only thing he could think of. Closing his eyes, as if in prayer, Harry spoke aloud, "Merlin, help me," before stepping clear through the veil.

* * *

In a place beyond the boundaries of time and space, five ethereal beings met for a discussion. Or rather, an argument.

"I don't see why this brat should be helped!" A deep contempt-filled voice spoke out, echoing around the unearthly room where the beings met in their vague, shifting forms.

"You don't see why we should help anyone, you always vote for us to leave them to their own devices!" retorted another voice coming from a being of a soft yellow colour; this one was female and motherly, though strong in her point against the first. "The poor lad can't help himself; he doesn't understand what he has gotten himself into!"

"And that is exactly why we shouldn't bother with him! He didn't seem to worry about what would happen before he got into the situation, so why should we?"

A third of the beings spoke up, "you do realise what the consequences of intervening or not would be, correct?"

"Of course I realise, but it's his own fault for not paying attention and throwing his life away needlessly." Spoke the first voice, pulsing a deep green colour in his impatience.

"To him it wasn't needlessly," the motherly one said, showing more of her seldom-seen strength, "he believed he was being loyal to his family, he believed he was doing the right thing! And, yes, I too realise what the consequences are, but whichever way we go we'll have our own consequences to deal with, so it is better for us to help him for the greater good, than leave him to die and ruin the only chance the wizarding world has!" She addressed the last to the rational being, who nodded in response, clearly thinking the situation through.

After a moment's pause where the beings ceased in their arguments to rally their view, the rational one of them spoke again addressing a fourth being who had so far been silent on the matter. "And what say you? It is unusual of you to be silent, especially considering who he is to the world, and to you."

He spoke with a strong voice, deep and rich, that matched his vague appearance of a deep crimson colour. "I fear that not helping him will throw the world into despair, but I know that despite what has been prophesised, there is more than one hope for the situation. As for him specifically, I want to help him, I don't want to leave him stranded in the veil of death, wandering an endless afterlife of darkness. But I also don't want him to suffer when he goes back." He sighed, the possibilities weighing on him. "If we do send him back, I fear he will only make life harder for himself. He is not ready to shoulder such heavy burdens, in that the old wizard is right, but unlike that aging headmaster, I think he deserved to know what was coming, to prepare for it." Looking around at each of his companions, he spoke again, this time with more vigour in his strong voice, "what he needs is more time. Time to deal with his grief and the new found knowledge of the prophecy. And perhaps the best time to deal with his grief is a time when he can get to know some of those he has lost."

Silence followed this proclamation. But only for a moment before two of them protested against what was being suggested. Loudest in protest was the contempt-filled voice, "you cannot be serious! That is not something we can just hand out to every poor sop who fails to make a good judgement. It is not a simple matter, moving people about in time, not even for us! And that brat? Does he really deserve that after the way he threw his life about when he knew what was at stake? He would be ill suited to deal with the experience in a useful way! I cannot stand by and watch you send him through time, just so he can 'deal with his grief'. I firmly oppose what you suggest." His piece said, he moved back to allow the second, calmer protestation from the rational one who now glowed with a deeper blue as she spoke strongly.

"You know as well as the rest of us the rules we must follow. And we al know of your dispensation to breaking rules, but this one is not something that we can just break without grand consequences! This will change the timelines and history itself. Bad things happen to wizards who meddle with time, remember? I'm sure you are well aware of the dangerous possibilities, so I will not go further unless you persist in this foolishness." She moved to stand beside the emerald coloured being, saying as she moved, "I, too, firmly oppose your suggestion."

Speaking up, once again, the strong crimson being addressed the only one who appeared to support him, he said "and what of you? To you believe this to be foolishness as well?"

"Yes, I do. But a foolishness that will do what it is needed. The world needs this boy. Though it is true the wizards will be able to pull through this situation on their own, they will come out the worse for it. And so we need to save him and give him the chance to learn how to take on the world before he is required to. He cannot learn safely in his own time, so when better to send him than where he can learn about the family he barely knew?" She moved to stand next to other, who glowed a brighter red for her support. "I support your suggestion."

The two groups remained as they stood for a moment, engaged in a battle of wills to which there could be no winner. They had been divided before, but never so evenly or over such important decisions.

Seeing the stalemate, the eldest of the beings, glowing a bright white, spoke in his wise voice. "You all have your views, and for different reasons. I speak now as a tiebreaker. My decision could change what we have lived by, or change how they," he indicated a vague gesture below him, "live their lives.

"I also speak as the one he called, the one he asked for help. And so, Godric, I support you. We will send our young hero back in time for a chance to rest and learn."

* * *

**A/N:** _Don't worry, I'm not abandoning _Fulfilling Prophecies_, I just got an idea for the start of a time travel fic I want to write eventually. I will be focusing on _FP _so this will most likely not be updated unless I get a block on that or inspiration for this._

_I also would like to know what people think of this, whether you like it, don't like it or think I should wait till I've finished _FP _to do it… if you have an opinion on this (or even if you just want to say '_meh_') drop me a review. :)_

_Antares._


	2. Bindings and Confusion

**Harry Potter and the Ethereal Time**

_Bindings and confusion_

Harry felt like he was drifting after stepping into the veil. Despite the completely empty void he had seen when he first looked past the tattered curtain, there was something to see on this side. Everything around him was vague and disjointed, it was as though he was looking at a crowd of people through smoke, he could tell they were there and he could hear them, but the little he saw of them wasn't enough to know who or what they were.

The strange transparency that had coursed through him before he had crossed the veil didn't matter here. It seemed that it had spread all the way and was no longer anything to worry about. He didn't feel any different to normal, there was no cold sensation that the veil had inspired before – there was in fact no sensation at all. Now that he thought about it and was focused on the sense, Harry could feel nothing, it was almost as if his body no longer existed, and his mind had only created the image of a body.

Time was slipping by, Harry knew that, but he had no idea how much, or if that even meant anything in this strange place he was in. _Now that I'm here, I might as well try and find Sirius, I'm sure I'll be able to tell him apart from all the other figures;_ he told himself, trying to give himself some sort of hope when he knew that there was none.

There was some sort of substance to this place, he could move around as though he was walking on solid ground – despite the fact that there was only more of the same misty darkness below him. The problem lay in not having anything to judge his position from, and Harry soon felt sure that he was walking in some sort of circle, not the straight line he was attempting.

Harry became frustrated for a moment, before he decided to not worry about it. _There's nothing I can do to help myself, I might as well stop looking for him._ He tried to reassure himself before he was struck by another thought, _who was I looking for? I know it was someone important, but who was it?_

It began to worry Harry when he couldn't remember why he was here, or how he got wherever _here_ was. His thoughts were breaking apart and making little sense to him as he caught fragments at a time. He occasionally had a complete coherent thought, and knew exactly where he was and why, but it happened less frequently as he continued aimlessly wandering through the strange space.

Things became darker the longer Harry continued to wander. He soon could barely see his own ghostly looking hand in front of him; but, strangely enough, it didn't particularly bother him, though he knew it probably should. His thoughts slowed down to almost nothing as the darkness grew around him, enclosing him and reaching out to claim him for its own.

With a few last semi-coherent thoughts, Harry thought it might be nice to let this nothingness take him.

* * *

"Do you think we pulled him out in time?" Asked the worried Lady Hufflepuff; or rather it was her lingering soul, currently a pale yellow insubstantial form, which asked the question of Lady Ravenclaw. 

"His spirit is still alive, despite the fact that his body died there. So, yes, we got him in time. Just." Rowena Ravenclaw was in a human form instead of her usual, relaxed, shifting form. In this guise she was beautiful, dark, shoulder-length hair framed a finely carved face set determinedly as she worked.

"If you hadn't delayed us by arguing we could've done more for him!" The human form of Gryffindor said hotly to his sometime friend, Slytherin.

"I was merely trying to stop us wasting our precious resources on the boy. But it's a moot point now, things worked out as _you_ wanted."

"Yes, how _I_ wanted, and how the others wanted too. You were the one who differed in view."

"Myself _and_ my Lady both declined to support you. It was not as simple as you painted it to be." The dark green being said with a sneer, allowing himself to shift into a tall, human form with long dark hair tied at the nape of his neck and cold, grey eyes, that looked irritable, set beneath thin eyebrows.

Helga Hufflepuff lost her temper as the two males set upon one another yet again. "Will you two _please_ stop arguing? It's impossible to work with your incessant bickering!"

"No matter what our views were, it is not in any of our best interests to lose him now, so help us ground his spirit _now_." Speaking out from where she worked, Rowena sent a glare towards the one who was her husband, urging him to leave things be for now.

They wisely did as she said, and joined the two women, all now in their human appearances.

* * *

Harry could see something. A blur of colours was slowly growing brighter out of the darkness, and he felt himself being drawn towards it, despite his conscious effort to stay back. There was something about the coloured lights that seemed odd and, not being able to think clearly, Harry wanted to just keep away from them and stay in the darkness he knew. Unfortunately whatever the light was, it wasn't going to let him do that. The pull became stronger, and Harry no longer had the energy to fight it, and simply allowed it to take him in. 

Warmth. That was what he noticed first. It wasn't a physical feeling – he still couldn't feel anything – rather it was a feeling of comfort, hospitality. He felt happy here, and he could once again think clearly.

Harry opened his eyes and began to become more aware of his surroundings, noticing four figures standing around him, and, for a moment, a fifth standing slightly further away. The place he was in didn't seem to be anything much, just a large room with very little in the way of furnishings. Everything seemed a little distant, not quite real. It was a strange feeling, and Harry found himself closing his eyes again in an attempt to wake up from what he was beginning to think was a dream. Opening his eyes again, the young wizard tried to gain an idea of where he was, after all, if it was a dream it was most likely about something he had been through. He had had enough dreams about graveyards and veiled archways to assume that there would be something bad about this dream. But when he took a better look around him at the, still unfocussed, room, Harry could see nothing that posed a threat to him. Even the figures standing around him seemed to be no danger to him, yet.

There was something insubstantial about the way he felt, but the feeling was growing less and less as the figures around him grew more focused. Slowly, Harry began to make out sounds around him. There was a faint hum which Harry recognised as a powerful sort of magical ritual – particularly since all four of the figures were contributing to the chant. There was very little in the way of other noise, he couldn't even hear himself breathing.

Harry had one full moment of clarity, where he saw and heard everything clearly – the four faces of those who stood over him, the words they were chanting (­_humus is phasmatis;, redimio is animus_), but, strangely, still no breathing. The moment ended suddenly, and Harry was plunged into unconsciousness.

* * *

Harry woke to a single clear thought in his mind. _Sirius_! He was able to think clearly now, there was none of the previous fogginess which had plagued him after entering the veil. 

The problem with being able to think clearly again was the rush of emotion about losing the only chance he had of seeing his Godfather again. He had set all his hopes on being able to bring Sirius back from beyond the veil, but he knew that hope was gone now. Somehow he must have failed, did he even make it to the veil? Harry had the strange thought that he should be dead if he had – even though that would mean Sirius really was dead. Trying not to dwell on any more thoughts of his Godfather, he opened his eyes, blinking against the warm, bright lights.

_Must be the Hospital wing,_ Harry thought in a daze, _it's always bright when I wake up there._ Strangely, the thought of being back at Hogwarts didn't comfort him, Harry had been hoping to be re-united with Sirius, and if he was back at the school then he _must_ have failed.

Brought out of his musings by a figure approaching, Harry looked through struggling eyes to make out a short, plump woman with a kindly appearance. _Pomfrey, she must have heard me wake._

"How are you feeling Mr. Potter?" He was asked in a familiar manner.

"Fine, Ma'am." Harry paused, reaching out beside him for his glasses. "Um, Madame Pomfrey, could you please hand me my glasses? I can't find them."

'Madame Pomfrey' chuckled softly, before handing him the requested object. "Here you are, Mr. Potter. It seems you really do need those to see, even here."

Confused and still half-asleep, Harry put his glasses on, "what do you mean, _even here_, Ma'am?" Looking up into a face which most definitely did _not_ belong to the school's nurse, Harry gasped and tried to shuffle away from the stranger. "W-who are you? Where am I?"

Still smiling kindly, the woman allowed some calming energy to influence her surroundings, making the boy relax slightly. "This may seem a little strange to you, it's a lot to take in, but I am Helga Hufflepuff." Harry stiffened, but she could see his mind working things through.

"Does that mean that I'm – dead?" Harry couldn't help but let out a small tremor with his question. It certainly didn't reassure him when the woman in front of him merely shuffled before responding.

"That question, Mr. Potter, is a little harder to answer."

* * *

­_Humus is phasmatis; redimio is animus _– Latin for 'ground this spirit, bind this soul' (at least its supposed to be!). 

Next chapter: Explanations and beginnings.  
_Harry didn't faint after hearing that he was sitting talking to one of the founders of Hogwarts. And he didn't faint when he was certain he was dead. He did, however, faint when he heard the explanation of what had happened. Well, maybe not faint, but he certainly did have to sit down very quickly._


End file.
